By CCN Markets: Facebook is already under fire from regulators less than a day after officially revealing its cryptocurrency whitepaper. Based on three separate talks, it’s clear top government and bank officials from around the world are preparing to regulate Facebook Libra. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin transcend national borders, and project Libra is looking to cash in on this edge that no other central bank can lay claim to. Regulators are on high alert as Facebook ambitiously aims to be the first global central bank. Bank of England Governor Demands High Standards In Portugal at the ECB’s annual symposium, Bank of
Despite Industry Pushback, G20 May Impose Stricter KYC Policy on Exchanges
It looks as if cryptocurrency service providers will have to adopt stricter know-your-customer (KYC) policies all across the world — and not everyone is happy about that.
On February 22, 2019, the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) published a draft recommendation for strict and uniform anti-money laundering (AML) regulation for cryptocurrency service providers, to be finalized by June 2019. The G20 — the 19 most powerful countries in the world plus the European Union — had already agreed in December 2018 to accept the recommendation by this intergovernmental body responsible for setting guidelines to combat money laundering and other financial crimes. As such, the recommendation will affect cryptocurrency businesses and users worldwide.
Indian Blockchain Summit Draws Policy Makers to Speed up Crypto Regulation
An Indian government-supported blockchain summit is drawing many policy makers with the aim to speed up the development of cryptocurrency regulation in the country. Among expected participants are officials from the Indian Ministry of Finance and the panel currently tasked with drafting the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Also read: Indian Supreme Court Moves Crypto Hearing, Community Calls for Positive Regulations
Fostering Crypto Ecosystem
Blockchain Summit India 2019 is supported by the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology and the State Government of Uttar Pradesh. Taking place on Feb. 22 and 23, the event aims to accelerate blockchain and cryptocurrency policy formation for India. According to its website:
Head of Policy at Coinbase Leaves for a Venture Capital Firm
As recently reported by Bloomberg, the head of policy at Coinbase, Michael Lempres is leaving the company for a position at a venture capital firm. He was promoted back in September when Brian Brooks took over his post as a chief legal and risk officer, a role that Lempres served as for over a year.
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Andreessen Horowitz Poaches Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer
San Francisco-based Coinbase has reportedly lost Michael Lempres, the firm’s chief policy officer since September, to investment giant Andreessen Horowitz. According to a breaking report by Bloomberg earlier this week, Lempres is joining a16z, which was notably an early backer of Coinbase, for an undetermined role. “As chief legal and risk officer during a time of tremendous growth for Coinbase, Mike was […]
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Tencent Will Extend Its IRL Name Policy to All of Its Games by 2019
Tencent (TCEHY) is reportedly planning to expand its policy that requires players to use their real names when logging into the company’s games. According to a recent post by Tencent on WeChat, the tech giant will check all its users’ identities against police databases by 2019, a process that started with Honour of Kings users last September. “There will be 9 popular […]
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Ukraine’s New Policy to Legalize Crypto, Considering Full Scale Adoption
In an official statement, the Ukranian government confirmed its plans to establish regulatory frameworks to legalize crypto in the region. As a part of an initiative to consider and acknowledge cryptocurrency as an emerging technology, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry in Ukraine released a new state policy to oversee various cryptocurrency-related sectors which will
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Coinbase Teases New Coin Listing Policy
Today, San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it’s changed its coin listing policy in order to increase cryptocurrency offerings. The new policy changes could result in significantly more coin listings in the future, while transforming Coinbase into a global player.
New Listing Process
From now on, coin creators can go to a new page on Coinbase’s website and submit a listing application without paying a fee. Coinbase will then identify and vet the application based on certain standards. In contrast to the previous policy where Coinbase needed to contact coin projects, now teams can apply and reach out to Coinbase first. Listed assets will no longer be limited to coins that comply with US regulations, as assets can be listed regionally if compliant with regional regulations.
India’s Blockchain Ecosystem Suffers as Antagonistic Government Policy Brings Exodus
The fallout from India’s regulatory position on cryptocurrencies is leading to an exit of talent, businesses and investment from the country’s blockchain space on a scale paralleled only by a prior wave of tech industry flight during the internet boom of the late 90s and early noughties. According to a recent News 18 report, a substantial
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Mining Giant Bitmain Offers New Policy to Boost Its Transparency
Chinese mining company Bitmain has announced it is exploring new policies that will boost the company’s transparency and communication with the cryptocurrency community.
In a company statement, Bitmain said, “We believe that communities served by Bitmain and its products should be supported and served as transparently as possible. Recent measures have included restricting order quantities, ensuring a first-paid-first-ship order of fulfillment, blocking IPs that we suspect to be hoarding, and publishing detailed shipping updates openly.”
Bitcoin Magazine asked Bitmain to explain the extent to which the data supplied by the company will be verifiable. A company representative responded:
Policy Easing, New Crypto Classification in South Korea
South Korea has been busy revising its cryptocurrency regulations. The regulators plan to ease the rules on crypto assets in line with G20 policies. While a new crypto classification system has been created, another government agency is conducting an on-site inspection of crypto exchanges following multiple hacks. In addition, the Bank of Korea has released a report with its view on using crypto as a means of payment.
Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space
CBDCs Are a Superior Monetary Policy Tool: Former FDIC Chair
Central bank digital currencies have elicited mixed responses around the world, but for one former chair of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, they might offer a better tool to conduct monetary policy than existing methods. In an opinion piece published on Yahoo Finance, Sheila Bair called on the Federal Reserve to seriously evaluate the relative merits of issuing its own digital currency. Bair noted that current monetary policies have proven unable to stimulate broad-based economic growth and have only made the rich richer while the middle class continues to struggle.
Op Ed: France’s Emerging Cryptocurrency Policy Appears Optimistically Vague
On March 19, 2018, in an op-ed published by the French news website, Numerama, France’s Minister of Finance and Economics, Bruno Le Maire wrote what appears, at least at first glance, to be an uncharacteristically optimistic exposition on the profound and pioneering nature of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology:
“A revolution is underway, of which bitcoin was only the precursor. The blockchain will offer new opportunities to our startups, for example with the Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) that will allow them to raise funds through ‘tokens,’ crypto-actives or not. It promises to create a network of trust without intermediaries, to offer increased traceability of transactions and, overall, to make the economy more efficient.”
Bitcoin Is Ideal for Countries Adopting a Passive Monetary Policy
One of Bitcoin’s inherent virtues is being inflation-resistant. This unique feature might be essential to help countries interested in adopting a passive monetary policy.
Bitcoin Controls the Inflation Rate
Only 21 million bitcoins will ever be mined. Therefore, Bitcoin is illiquid. However, Satoshi Nakamoto, purportedly the creator of Bitcoin, intentionally established this lack of liquidity to make the cryptocurrency inflation-resistant and to incentivize Bitcoin miners.
According to Professor Max Raskin, Bitcoin’s pre-commitment to an inflation rate that halves every four years makes the cryptocurrency an ideal model for governments choosing to adopt a passive monetary policy. Raskin writes in the Wall Street Journal,
Op Ed: FinCEN Policy Positions Offer Murky Guidance for ICOs
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) appears to be taking steps to eliminate some of the ambiguity surrounding the status of ICOs as money services businesses (MSBs). On March 6, 2018, FinCEN released a letter it sent in February to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (the “Wyden Letter”). The letter stakes out a policy position that could be seen as somewhat inconsistent with prior FinCEN guidance and could foreshadow potential avenues of enforcement. ICOs would be wise to monitor FinCEN’s public statements and, if they haven’t already, should consider developing Bank Secrecy Act compliance programs to protect themselves from substantial fines and criminal liability associated with FinCEN actions.
Everything You Need To Know About The New Poloniex Verification Policy
Poloniex just reported that it’s going to require verification for legacy accounts. Here’s what’s what you need to know:
On December 27, 2017, cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex released this press release. The release outlines that fact that the company will soon start requiring that every account held on its platform is verified and that, to this aim, will start removing accounts (so-called legacy accounts) on an as-yet-undecided date.
Here’s Poloniex’s official statement on the development:
We have recently completed a major upgrade to our customer identification and verification systems. As a result, we will soon require legacy accounts to become verified through the latest version of our verification portal.